John Grisham Born Feb 8, 1955

Guest Author - Carol Taller

John Grisham was born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Today he is best known as the author of bestselling novels including “The Firm”, “The Pelican Brief”, and “The Chamber”. His books are usually courtroom dramas and many have been made into legal thriller movies.

Grisham was not a very serious student in school, however, he did excel in sports. Grisham grew up dreaming of becoming a baseball player but as he got older reality set in and he majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. He went to Law School believing he would be a tax attorney and quickly switched to criminal defense law at Ole Miss.

He began a legal practice in Mississippi in the 1980’s. His practice thrived and was elected to the Mississippi State Legislature where he worked for seven years. Throughout this time Grisham worked 60 – 70 hour weeks using down time to write fiction as a hobby.

After one particular trial he began to wonder what if circumstances in the case were different, and his thoughts sparked the plot for “A Time To Kill”. He finished the book in 1987 and submitted it to several publishers who rejected it. When the book was finally picked up by a publisher a mere 5,000 copies were printed. Grisham began writing his second book and slowly became a full time writer. He has been writing a book a year ever since “A Time To Kill”.

Grisham’s second book was the book that got everyone’s attention. “The Firm” was the bestselling novel in 1991 and made into a film by Paramount Pictures. The continued overwhelming success of his following books “The Pelican Brief” and “The Client” brought “A Time To Kill” back into focus. It was reprinted by Doubleday and Dell and became a bestseller.

Grisham has a wife Renee have two children: Ty and Shea. They have a farm in Mississippi and a plantation in Virginia. He still dreams about baseball, and has become the local Little League Commissioner. He built six ball fields on his property and hosts the Little League teams.